A talk given during the Social Game Summit at the Game Developers Conference in 2012 focused on the Zynga game Indiana Jones Adventure World.

1. Designing Core Gameplay for Everyone
Seth Sivak
Lead Designer – INDIANA JONES Adventure World
Zynga Boston

2. ● Who?
● What?
● Why?
● How?

3. Who am i?

4. Zynga Boston Design

5. zynga zynga
dublin uk
zynga
zynga new york zynga zynga
seattle germany beijing
zynga
zynga boston zynga
SF lux
zynga
zynga east zynga
LA japan
zynga
dallas
zynga zynga
san diego ZWF
mckinney india
zynga
austin

7. Play = #2 activity on the
45% of time spent on 47% of time spent using
Internet; more popular than
social networks smartphone apps
email

8. 240 million monthly
active users

9. Who is the Audience?

10. Who is the Audience?

11. ● Who?
● What?
● Why?
● How?

12. What is Indiana Jones Adventure World?

13. Episodic Casual Adventure Game
Complete quests and explore on map
gameplay to recover artifacts

14. Episodic Casual Adventure Game
Travel to new areas and get new stories

15. Episodic Casual Adventure Game
Upgrade tools and gadgets

16. Episodic Casual Adventure Game
Build up your Base Camp to hold your
supplies and treasure

17. What is the Gameplay?
● Quests

18. What is the Gameplay?
● Quests
● Energy Management

19. What is the Gameplay?
● Quests
● Energy Management
● Combat

20. What is the Gameplay?
● Quests
● Energy Management
● Combat
● Puzzles

21. What is the Gameplay?
● Quests
● Energy Management
● Combat
● Puzzles
● Exploration

22. ● Who?
● What?
● Why?
● How?

23. Why a Social Adventure?
● Go on a journey (leave the Farm)
● Tell a story (make characters matter)
● Evolve gameplay (casual adventure)

24. Facebook Ecosystem Summer 2010
Go on a Journey Tell a Story

25. Facebook Ecosystem Summer 2010
Go on a Journey Tell a Story

26. Games we love

27. But these games are Difficult…

28. How can we make this game for everyone?

29. ● Who?
● What?
● Why?
● How?

30. The First Deliverable
● 3 Maps that are not the tutorial
● Explore “On map gameplay”
● Find the fun
● Bush Mazes
● Metal Detector Minesweeper
● Memory Puzzle

31. The First Deliverable
● 3 Maps that are not the tutorial
● Explore “On map gameplay”
● FIND THE FUN
● Bush Mazes
● Metal Detector Minesweeper
● Memory Puzzle

32. Bush Mazes
Navigate the maze using
the least energy possible

33. Bush Mazes
But beware of Beasties
Go for the Treasure!

34. Bush Mazes
Follow the Path

35. Bush Mazes
Make a wrong choice

36. Bush Mazes
It will cost you Energy

37. Metal Detector Minesweeper
Use the Metal Detector to save Energy

38. Metal Detector Minesweeper
2 Gold Nearby!

39. Memory Puzzles
Hit the switch to see the pattern
3
4
1
2
Light them in order
to get the Treasure

40. First Time User Experience - Part 1
● Teach players about the game
● Coins, XP, Camera
● Core Loop
● Energy Management
● Map Gameplay
● Story

41. The Dig site
Navigate the Bush Maze
Start

42. The Dig site
Place the Survey Flags

43. The Dig site
Use the Survey Scope

44. The Dig site
Enter the Cave

45. The Cave
Navigate the Rock Maze
Start

46. The Cave
Stand on the Switches
Collect the Idol

47. First Time User Experience - Part 2
● Teach players about the game
● Coins, XP, Camera
● Simpler Core Loop (TOOLS!)
● Clearer Energy Management (fun?)
● Simpler Map Gameplay
● Less Story

48. Evolution of a Map
● First map of the game
● 30 Major Lessons
● 1 Major Reboot
● 612 Changes

50. Start

51. Grab the Machete

52. Recover the Key Fragments

53. Open the Door

56. 1. Players want rewards for exploring

57. 2. Establish relationships in the world
3. Teach everything again

60. Art changes

61. 4. Don’t teach everything at once

64. 5. Every action should be satisfying

67. 6. Focus players on a single goal

70. 7. Make real world connections

71. 8. Make everything shorter

74. 9. Characters need to be introduced

76. 10. Default camera zoom matters

78. 11. If you can’t teach it, just cut it

80. 12. Don’t let art break immersion

83. 13. Use stereotypes
as teaching tools

86. 14. Players want surprise and excitement!

89. 15. Rule of 3. Seriously.

92. 16. Don’t orphan mechanics

93. 17. Make a clear path to the objectives

94. 18. Set the player up to be smart

95. Every trap acts differently 

98. 19. Players want consequences!

100. REBOOT!
Take a breather.
Players want one decision and one goal at a time.

101. The Legend of Zelda - 1986 World of Warcraft - 2010

102. 20. Give a break between objectives
Tell a player when they are “done”

103. 21. Mechanics need to be consistent

105. 8. Make everything shorter
22. A single objective should fit in a single screen

106. 23. Introduce, Define, Challenge

109. 24. Always show the objective

112. 25. Establish a sense of place

115. 26. Make it personal

118. 27. Repetition is boring

121. 28. Give good examples

124. 29. Be consistent

127. 30. Make the world feel full

131. 30 Lessons
1. Players want rewards for exploring 16. Don’t orphan mechanics
2. Establish relationships in the world 17. Make a clear path to the objectives
3. Teach everything again 18. Set the player up to be smart
4. Don’t teach everything at once 19. Players want consequences!
5. Every action should be satisfying 20. Give a break between objectives
6. Focus players on a single goal 21. Mechanics need to be consistent
7. Make real world connections 22. A single objective should fit in a single screen
8. Make everything shorter 23. Introduce, Define, Challenge
9. Characters need to be introduced 24. Always show the objective
10. Default camera zoom matters 25. Establish a sense of place
11. If you can’t teach it, just cut it 26. Make it personal
12. Don’t let art break immersion 27. Repetition is boring
13. Use stereotypes as teaching tools 28. Give good examples
14. Players want surprise and excitement! 29. Be consistent
15. Rule of 3. Seriously. 30. Make the world feel full

132. We iterated on everything

133. We iterated on everything

134. ● Who?
● What?
● Why?
● How?

135. Postmortem Takeaways
● What Went Right?
● We let ourselves wander
● We questioned our Sacred Cows
● We prototyped everything
● We focused on iteration

136. Postmortem Takeaways
● What We Learned
● Don’t innovate everywhere
● Polish an aspect of the design to “done” early
● Don’t lose your vision in the feedback

137. Was it worth it?
“I like the little surprises. I like that AW
makes you use your brain to solve little
puzzles and work out strategies, even if
they're just simple strategies.”

138. Was it worth it?
“I think the best so far is that feeling i get
for luring a snake to one of those traps.
Saves me energy, gets me coins and most
importantly, rids me of the snake.....lovely
stuff!”

139. Was it worth it?
“Graphics are great, sound is great, and
the playability is perfect. Its just the right
combo of click, challenge, questing & story.
Kudos for using mouse-over instead of
mouse-click on prizes. Brilliant! Nobody
else has figured that one out. Sorry guys,
no complaints. ”

140. Questions?
ssivak@zynga.com
Special thanks:
Bryan Pope
Nina Dobner
Zynga Boston Design
Matt Fillbrandt
INDIANA JONES and all related characters, names and
indicia are trademarks of & © 2012 Lucasfilm Ltd.
All rights reserved. Used under license.